MINISTER for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa says they will ensure that there is no abuse of the budget allocated to the ministry.
The ministry was allocated $127.7 million in the 2019/2020 National Budget.
This comprised $124.8m for operating expenditure, $2.3m for capital expenditure and VAT of $0.7m.
“For me just listening to the budget address, immediately, our areas of focus as mentioned before are programs that we are rolling out for government that needs to be reviewed to make sure that government’s aims are in fact achieved and that there is no abuse around it,” she said.
Mrs Vuniwaqa said a big plus for her ministry was the new subsidy for caregivers of children living with disabilities going to school.
“It’s a great need for caregivers that’s been addressed in the budget.
“Having said that, we will undertake to ensure that those beneficiaries that are already receiving the assistance under the social welfare are indeed eligible for it.”
She added that the 2019 Fiji National Women’s Expo which would be held this week was one of the pending programs to be undertaken by the ministry for the 2018/2019 financial year.
The expo will begin on Wednesday and ends on Friday.
